Celebrating
The Release Of:
THE SIEGE OF TROY
BY
THEODOR KALLIFATIDES:
With a USA Giveaway!!
The Release Of:
THE SIEGE OF TROY
BY
THEODOR KALLIFATIDES:
With a USA Giveaway!!
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Information in this post is courtesy of Caitlin Hurst of Other Press.
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“Ever since I was in high school,” recalls the prolific Swedish-Greek author Theodor Kallifatides,“The Illiad
has touched my imagination and aroused my admiration. In my eyes it
is the strongest antiwar poem ever written.”
Hoping that this famously
long and difficult text could move more readers with its timeless
message and captivating story, Kallifatides was
inspired to write a novel: THE SIEGE OF TROY (Other Press Paperback Original; On Sale: September 10, 2019), a perceptive retelling of
The Illiad in which a young Greek teacher draws on the enduring
power of myth to help her students cope with the terrors of Nazi
occupation.
From the feminist brilliance of Madeleine Miller’s
Circe to the big wins of Hadestown at
this year’s Tony awards, reimaginings of Greek mythology continue to
speak to our contemporary moment with power and relevance.
In unfolding
the antiwar message of
The Iliad against a backdrop of WWII Greece, Kallifatides’ THE SIEGE OF TROY
joins this inventive and timely tradition of offering ancient
stories anew, giving the classic fresh life while illuminating lesser
known facets and investigating the psychology of its human characters.
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ABOUT THE SIEGE OF TROY:
The
year is 1945. Bombs fall over a Nazi-occupied Greek village, and a
teacher takes her students to a nearby cave for shelter. There, she
begins to tell them the
story of another war, recounting, day by day, the long siege of Troy by
the Greeks. She tells of the human realities of this ancient battle, of
how the heroes of myth suffer from thirst, heat, homesickness, and
heartbreak, and how the opponents meet—army against
army, man against man. Helmets are cleaved, heads fly, blood flows. All
was set in motion when Prince Paris of Troy fell in love with king of
Sparta Menelaus's wife, the beautiful Helen, and eloped with her to his
homeland. Now Helen stands atop the city walls
to witness the horrors set in motion by her flight. When her current
and former loves face each other in battle, she knows that, whatever
transpires, she is bound to lose.
The
most spellbound listener to this tale of Troy is our 15-year-old
narrator, a Greek student completely beguiled by his teacher and slowly
awakening to new feelings
for his oldest friend and playmate, all while under threat from the
Allies’ airstrikes above and the summary executions of suspected Greek
resistance fighters by the Germans occupiers within his village.
Kallifatides brilliantly interweaves the perspective
of this young boy living through a war with the nuanced and urgent
retelling of
The Illiad by a modern female bard.
Kallifatides’ THE SIEGE OF TROY
provides unique psychological insight into the story of The Illiad,
downplaying the role of the gods and delving into the mindsets of its
mortal participants. Homer's epic comes to life with a renewed urgency
that allows us to experience events
as though firsthand, and offers vivid lessons about the senselessness
of war and what it means to be human.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Photo Credit: Florence Montmare
Theodor Kallifatides has
published more than forty works of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry that
have been translated around the world. Born in Greece in 1938,
Kallifatides immigrated in 1964 to Sweden, where he began his literary
career. As a translator, he has brought August Strindberg
and Ingmar Bergman to Greek readers, and Giannis Ritsos and Mikis
Theodorakis to Swedish ones. He has received numerous awards for his
work in both Greece and Sweden. He lives in Sweden.
Marlaine Delargy is
best known for her translations of the work of Henning Mankell, John
Ajvide Lindqvist, and Kristina Ohlsson. She is also the translator of
Therese Bohman's Eventide and Drowned
(Other Press).
She serves on the editorial board of the Swedish Book Review. She lives in Shropshire, England.
THE SIEGE OF TROY
By
Theodor Kallifatides
Other Press Paperback Original
• 978-159051-971-4
On Sale Date: September 10, 2019 • Price: $14.99
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GIVEAWAY:
I am partnering with Caitlin Hurst of Other Press for this giveaway.
NOT A REQUIREMENT FOR THE GIVEAWAY, BUT PLEASE FOLLOW MY BLOG - IN THE FOLLOWERS' SECTION.
I am partnering with Caitlin Hurst of Other Press for this giveaway.
NOT A REQUIREMENT FOR THE GIVEAWAY, BUT PLEASE FOLLOW MY BLOG - IN THE FOLLOWERS' SECTION.
USA ONLY
September 9 - 16
Enter here
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Good Luck if you enter, and thanks for stopping.
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